When it works, IT ticks along in the background allowing you to do great things for your business.

Sadly it often seems to choose the most inopportune moments to go wrong – ten minutes before you leave for the office Christmas party; when your IT manager is on his fourth sherry on Boxing Day; as you step off the plane, skis in hand, for your first holiday since the summer.

Over the festive period, it's even more important than usual to have out of hours cover for your IT. Outsourcing 24/7 support is the clever way to make sure that your colleagues and customers don't experience disruption over Christmas – or come back to absolute chaos in the New Year.

1. Cost-effective IT support

The number one reason for outsourcing 24/7 support for your IT has to be how cost-effective it is. If you are a small company you may not have a dedicated in-house IT manager or the resources to respond to out of hours incidents. By outsourcing your IT support to a Managed Services Provider you can get support for your IT at all times of the day and night without having to worry about spiralling costs. 24/7 remote support fees are fixed and included in the price of your contract, so you'll never get any nasty surprises – just high quality support at a low cost.

2. Critical infrastructure and devices only

If you worry about your website falling over in the middle of the night when all your best customers are online, you can specify 24/7 support for servers and critical devices – perhaps your boss's iPhone – only. Paying for what you need instead of cover for every device means you can save money and spend your IT budget on things that really matter without wasting a penny.

3. Give your IT team a proper festive break

It isn't unusual for teams to be overstretched and under-resourced - particularly at this time of year – so it's important that your staff get a decent break over the Christmas period. With outsourced 24/7 support you can make sure your IT manager gets a rest whilst still providing the cover you need in case of a failover or other technological emergency. When January rolls around, your entire workforce will be well-rested and keen to get stuck in – much better than a grumbling team who ended up having to rescue files from backup at 3am on New Year's Day. Which leads us to...

4. No on-call fees

Paying staff to be on call over bank holidays can cost your business a lot – a priceless service if something does go wrong, but an unnecessary expense and stress for your team if not. 24/7 support contracts always include out of hours remote support, and this flexible cover allows you to keep costs down whilst providing the cover your critical IT systems need whilst your team is busy celebrating.

5. Customer satisfaction

Who are the most important people in your business? No, it isn't your boss or even the office dog – it's your customers. If your customers aren't satisfied you are onto a losing streak, so the uptime of your IT systems – to process payments, take orders and communicate with your business – is essential. 24/7 support will ensure your customers can access the information they need, when they need it with minimal disruption. Happy customers equal a happy business!

6. Expertise

Most businesses have at least one critical IT system which is only understood by one or two people – and in an emergency, what happens if you can't get hold of that individual? Outsourcing your 24/7 IT support gives you access to a whole team of experts who are used to resolving issues with third party software day in, day out. And while you've got these experts at your fingertips...

7. Strategic support

...why not invite them to provide a review of your current IT strategy? AAG does this as part of normal business – assessing your business growth and direction and providing expert advice on how your IT can best support your overall goals. With top-tier partnerships with many vendors including Fujitsu, HP, Dell, VMWare, ESET and Veeam, you can take full advantage of working with a Managed Services Provider who understands the technology your business needs to get to the next level.

To request a 24/7 quote today, get in touch with our team on 0114 3030 249 or info@aag-it.com.